scholarly journals Arabic-Spanish Language Contact in Puerto Rico: A Case of Glottal Stop Epenthesis

Languages ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Sherez Mohamed ◽  
Carolina González ◽  
Antje Muntendam
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Bilingual Group ◽  
Glottal Stop ◽  
Vowel Height ◽  
Spanish Bilinguals

The current study examines the realization of adjacent vowels across word boundaries in Arabic-Spanish bilinguals and Spanish monolinguals in Puerto Rico, focusing specifically on the rate of glottal stop epenthesis in this context (e.g., hombre africano to [ˈom.bre.ʔa.fri.ˈka.no]). It was hypothesized that Arabic-Spanish bilinguals would show a higher rate of glottal stop epenthesis than Spanish monolinguals because of transfer from Arabic. In addition, we investigated the possible effects of stress, vowel height, language dominance and bilingual type on the rate of glottal stop epenthesis. Results from a reading task with 8 participants showed no significant difference in glottalization between bilinguals and monolinguals. For monolinguals, glottalization was significantly more likely when the first vowel was low or stressed; significant interactions between vowel height and stress were found for the bilingual group. Language dominance was a significant factor, with Arabic-dominant bilinguals glottalizing more than the Spanish-dominant bilinguals. In addition, early sequential bilinguals favored glottalization slightly more than simultaneous bilinguals, without reaching significance. Our data suggests some effects of syllable structure transfer from Arabic, particularly in Arabic-dominant participants. To our knowledge, our study is the first exploration of Arabic and Spanish in contact in Puerto Rico, and the first to acoustically examine the speech of Arabic-Spanish bilinguals.

Simple metathesis in loanword phonology: the Arabic-Romance language contact

2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
pp. 1049-1084
Author(s):  
Yvonne Kiegel-Keicher
Keyword(s):  
Structural Change ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Romance Language ◽  
Syllable Weight ◽  
Systematic Process ◽  
Loanword Phonology

AbstractSimple metathesis can be found in numerous Ibero-Romance arabisms compared with their Andalusi Arabic etyma. The analysis of a corpus of Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan arabisms illustrates its effects on syllable structure and syllable weight. It can be shown that Arabic-Romance simple metathesis constitutes a motivated structural change that provides for typologically unmarked syllable weight relations within the word. After the resyllabification it entails the involved unstressed syllables no longer excede the stressed syllable in weight. However, it is not an obligatory, systematic process, but merely an optional tendency, which corresponds to the universal tendency expressed by the Weight Law.

The Contact Diffusion of Linguistic Practices

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Bohnemeyer ◽  
Katharine T. Donelson ◽  
Randi E. Moore ◽  
Elena Benedicto ◽  
Alyson Eggleston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Spatial Reference ◽  
Diffusion Analysis ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
Spatial Reference Frame ◽  
Using Data

We examine the extent to which practices of language use may be diffused through language contact and areally shared, using data on spatial reference frame use by speakers of eight indigenous languages from in and around the Mesoamerican linguistic area and three varieties of Spanish. Regression models show that the frequency of L2-Spanish use by speakers of the indigenous languages predicts the use of relative reference frames in the L1 even when literacy and education levels are accounted for. A significant difference in frame use between the Mesoamerican and non-Mesoamerican indigenous languages further supports the contact diffusion analysis.

scholarly journals Production of grazed tropical grasses in different agroecosystems in Puerto Rico. III. Semiarid

1969 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-219
Author(s):  
Luis E. Tergas ◽  
Jaime Vélez-Santiago ◽  
Angel V. Méndez-cruz
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
First Year ◽  
Panicum Maximum ◽  
Forage Production ◽  
Tropical Grasses ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Cynodon Nlemfuensis

A field experiment was conducted at the Lajas Experiment Substation in the semiarid region of Puerto Rico to evaluate the production and persistence of 8 tropical grasses, Cynodon nlemfuensis Star, C. dactylon Coastcross-1, C. plectostachyus Star, Panicum maximum USDA Pl291047, Makueni, Guinea and P. maximum USDA PI 259553, and the naturalized pasture Dichanthium annulatus pajon. Small plots were grazed at 3- to 5-week intervals for 2 years. P. maximum USDA PI 259553 and Makueni were highly productive in the semiarid,.region, as well as in previous experiments in humid regions in Puerto Rico. They are highly recommended for grazing trials. P. maximum Makueni and USDA PI 291047 were the most productive during the first year, although they were not significantly different (P=0.05) from P. maximum USDA PI 259553 and Common Guinea, and Cynodon plectyostachyus Star. The production of C. nlemluensis Star was similar to that of Dichanthium annulatus but higher than that of C. dactylon Coastcross-1 (P=0.05). The average production for all grasses declined at the beginning of the year, during the cool short days in February and March, 1983, without any significant difference (P=0.05) among species and cultivars. Production increased at the beginning of the rainy season, but it was low at the peak of the rainy season because of trampling in poorly aerated and compact soils. C. plectostachyus Star was the most productive grass during the second year of experiment, although it was not significantly different (P=0.05) from P. maximum USDA PI 291017 and 259553 and cultivar Makueni. The production of Common Guinea and that of D. annulatus were. similar and higher than that of C. nlemfuensis Star and C. dactylon Coastcross-1 (P=0.05), which did not persist at the end of the experiment. Forage production during the second year was lower than in the first year because of less rainfall in 1983. The mean CP content of all grasses varied from 11.29 to 14.05, except that of D. annulatus, which was only 9.73%. CP content was lower during the periods of maximum forage production.

scholarly journals Contact-induced grammatical (non)changes? Observations of morphosyntactic structures in the Kashubian dialect in Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-29
Author(s):  
Motoki Nomachi
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
History Of ◽  
Contact Situation ◽  
New Phenomena

This article considers the context of language contact and discusses four typologically relevant morphosyntactic features (definite and indefinite articles, the merger of instrumental and comitative cases, and the non-pro-drop tendency) and their possible changes in the Kashubian dialect in Canada. A comparison of the data on the Kashubian dialect recorded in Prussia during the mid-19th century by Hilferding and in the present-day by the author in the Renfrew area (Ontario, Canada) revealed no significant difference, even though the Kashubian spoken in the area has undergone various innovations due to the influence of English. Both grammatical and sociolinguistic analyses of the history of the contact situation suggested that the conservativeness of grammatical changes in the dialect can be explained by the prolonged isolation of the speakers in their new homeland, and by the fact that the intensive language contact and collective bilingualism between Kashubian and English are relatively new phenomena.

Phonetic behavior in proficient bilinguals

2018 ◽  
pp. 395-406
Author(s):  
Miquel Simonet
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Bilingual Group ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Spanish Bilinguals

This chapter discusses a selection of the literature on the phonetic behavior of proficient bilinguals. It examines both perception and production, and it focuses on what is known about a particular bilingual group: Catalan–Spanish bilinguals. This population has received a lot of attention because it allows for the exploration of bilingual individuals with different experience profiles who reside in a speech community where both languages enjoy similar social status and are thus likely to be used by any member of the community in any given day. Phonetic research on this bilingual population has been concerned mostly with addressing the following question: What is the role of the age of first exposure to an additional language in the manner in which a bilingual will represent and process this language? Research on this population has sparked a wealth of investigations on other populations in order to address this question from multiple perspectives.

Like in English and como, como que, and like in Spanish in the speech of Southern Arizona bilinguals

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-207
Author(s):  
Joseph Kern
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Discourse Particles ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Contact Situation

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This study analyzes the use of like in English and como, como que, and like in Spanish in the speech of bilinguals from Southern Arizona to assess the possible influence of like in English on its equivalents in Spanish in a language contact situation in which English is the majority language. Design/Methodology/Approach: Drawing on a discourse-pragmatic variationist approach, this study analyzes the use of like in English and its Spanish equivalents in recorded conversations between nine pairs of young Spanish-English bilingual friends from Southern Arizona. Data and Analysis: 3389 tokens of like in English and its Spanish equivalents from 18 hours of recorded conversations (9 hours in each language) were analyzed quantitatively. The analysis assesses the relative frequencies of these variants and their syntactic positioning as clause-external discourse markers and clause-internal discourse particles. The independent variables of the analysis were the language of the conversation and the sex and language dominance of the participants. Findings/Conclusions: Contact with English did not appear to radically influence the use of como, como que, and like in Spanish in the speech of these bilinguals. In the speech of the same bilinguals, like in English was much more frequent and occurred in many more syntactic positions than its Spanish equivalents. Originality: This is the first study of discourse-pragmatic features in contact to analyze the use of discourse markers and discourse particles in both the donor and the recipient language in the speech of the same bilinguals. Significance/Implications: These results contribute to our knowledge of the limited interaction of linguistic repertoires in the speech of bilinguals at the discourse level even in language contact situations with a majority language. They also underline the ability of bilinguals to both understand and reproduce the subtleties of the use of these features in the two languages they speak.

Englanol: More Language Contact in Puerto Rico

1971 ◽  
Vol 46 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Nash
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Language Contact

A Survey of Phonological Mid Vowel Intuitions in Central Catalan

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret E L Renwick ◽  
Marianna Nadeu
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Phonological Representation ◽  
Internet Survey ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Language History ◽  
Specific Association ◽  
Vowel Height ◽  
Spanish Bilinguals

Catalan, like other Romance languages, has two pairs of phonemic mid vowels (/be/ “well” vs. /bɛ/ “lamb”; /os/ “bear” vs. /ɔs/ “bone”). However, these contrasts do not function like others in the language: they are partially phonologically conditioned, and evidence shows that words may be pronounced with different mid vowels by speakers of the same variety or even by the same speaker. Spanish may influence this instability, as first-language Spanish Catalan-Spanish bilinguals struggle to perceive and produce the contrast. This paper investigates the mid vowel contrasts in an Internet survey of vowel height judgments in 220 words by 146 Central Catalan-speaking individuals who also self-reported their language history. Results confirm that certain phonological contexts condition mid vowel height, typically favoring low mid judgments; where phonological conditioning occurs, speakers judge quality with increased consistency and confidence. Many words lacking phonological conditioning environments, however, are variable across speakers. Bilingualism levels and age have an effect: among Catalan-dominant participants, choice of mid vowel is affected by age, while participants with the highest Catalan dominance have greatest confidence in their intuitions. Variably-judged words are also phonetically variable, indicating a word-specific association between strength of phonological representation and realization.

Weight Gains of Cows Fed on Five Grass Pastures Intensively Managed in the Humid Hill Region of Puerto Rico

1969 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-46
Author(s):  
Rubén Caro-Costas
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Root System ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Hill Region ◽  
Grazing Cattle ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Weight Gains ◽  
Intensively Managed

There is no significant difference in the productivity of intensively managed pastures of Guinea, Tanner, Pangola, D. milanjiana and Signal grasses growing on an Ultisol. Grazing cattle gained an average of 815 kg/ha/yr and 0.47 kg/head/day. Tanner can on occasion be toxic to cattle; Signal and Guinea grasses were not easily established, and D. milanjiana was frequently uprooted by the grazing cattle. Pangola proved to be the most desirable because it is easy to establish and cultivate; it has a good root system, and it contains no toxic substances.

scholarly journals The Disfluent Speech of Bilingual Spanish–English Children: Considerations for Differential Diagnosis of Stuttering

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney T. Byrd ◽  
Lisa M. Bedore ◽  
Daniel Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Differential Diagnosis ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Secondary Purpose ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Speech Behaviors ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Speech Disfluency ◽  
Significant Frequency Difference

PurposeThe primary purpose of this study was to describe the frequency and types of speech disfluencies that are produced by bilingual Spanish–English (SE) speaking children who do not stutter. The secondary purpose was to determine whether their disfluent speech is mediated by language dominance and/or language produced.MethodSpanish and English narratives (a retell and a tell in each language) were elicited and analyzed relative to the frequency and types of speech disfluencies produced. These data were compared with the monolingual English-speaking guidelines for differential diagnosis of stuttering.ResultsThe mean frequency of stuttering-like speech behaviors in the bilingual SE participants ranged from 3% to 22%, exceeding the monolingual English standard of 3 per 100 words. There was no significant frequency difference in stuttering-like or non-stuttering-like speech disfluency produced relative to the child's language dominance. There was a significant difference relative to the language the child was speaking; all children produced significantly more stuttering-like speech disfluencies in Spanish than in English.ConclusionResults demonstrate that the disfluent speech of bilingual SE children should be carefully considered relative to the complex nature of bilingualism.

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